Friday, October 02, 2009

Paxil Ad [2002] "Non-Habit Forming"

For those in the UK that don't know, Paxil is the brand name the Americans use for Seroxat.

Los Angeles, July 2, 2002 - - The representatives of a nationwide class action lawsuit claiming that the antidepressant drug, Paxil, causes dependency and severe withdrawal symptoms in a high percentage of patients who attempt to stop taking the drug, are seeking a court order that would require SmithKline Beecham to pull from the airwaves certain of its television commercials that claim Paxil is non habit-forming and its promotional brochures from doctors’ offices that make claims that the drug does not cause dependency and causes only mild side effects.

You can read more of this press statement from 2002 on Charles Medawar's Social Audit web page - HERE

On August 16, 2002, the judge in the case granted the class representatives''request and ordered GSK to pull the television ads in question. Within two business days, however, the FDA stepped in to argue that the Court did not have jurisdiction to second-guess its decision to allow GSK to air the commercials.

On October 10, 2002 the Judge reconsidered GSK''s'' request to keep ads on the air claiming the drug is non habit-forming. [1]

Meantime, here is the ad that caused all the fuss. You will note from the commentary that apart from claiming Paxil is "non-habit forming", they also claim that "a chemical imbalance could be to blame" and that "Paxil works to correct this imbalance"